Flexible coupling



Dc. 1, 192s. 1,564,186

C. W. SPICER ET AL FLEXIBLE COUPLING Filed July 16. 1924 CLAREAQE vvvRzy Sweex I3 @work News aux mvENToRsI at ATTO EY l Patented 1, 1925 UNITED VSTATES 1,564,186 PATENT OFFICE.

' cLAnnNcE-wmnnn srIcEn AND eUnnoN Lucius TAR-Box, or lrLArNFrnLn, NEW` JERSEY, AssIeNOns To serena MANUFACTURING CORPORATION, A CORPORATION F VIRGINIA.

FLEXIBLE COUPLING.

Application led July 16, 1924. Serial No. 726,358.

To all whom 'it may concern:

- Be it known that we, CLARENCE VVINF-nnv Snroan and GURDON LUcrUs TAnn'ox, both 'citizens 'of the United States, residing in Plainfield, in the county of Union, State of New Jersey, have invented certain new and useful improvements in Flexible Couplings, of which the following is a disclosure.

Our invention relates toflexible couplings such as are employed to connect rotatable power shafts of all kinds, and particularly to couplings for connecting the power shafts ot automobiles, and is an improvement on lexible couplings described in U. S. Patentsl5 #1,425,616 and #1,443,440 granted to us.

Ilhe object of this invention is to produce a joint that is simple and compact in construction and one that can be easily assemhled. i A further object of our invention is to provide a joint with simple means of compressing the resilient members.

rihe foregoing and other-features of our invention will now be described in connection with the accompanying drawin s forming part of .this disclosure in w ich we have represented our liexible coupling in its preferred form, after which we shall point out more particularly in the claims those 3UV features which vwe believe to be new and of our own invention.

In the drawings accompanying and forming part of this specification:

Figure l illustrates an embodiment of our 351 invention in part sectionat .right angles to the shafts to be connected.

Figure 2 is a section along the lines 2--2 Figure 1.' Y igure 3 illustrates a modified form-sim- 40 ilar to'that shown in Figurel. 'Figure 4 is a view at right angles' to that shown in Figure 3. d Fi 'es 5 and 6 are twoA views of the yokes employed in the modification shown in Figure 3.

- Referrin trated in igures 1 and 2-the reference numerals 10 and 11 designate the two shafts to be connected. On the end of each of these shafts are oppositely disposed hub members 12; carrying a plurality of projections 13 provided with uare'shank 1 Adapted to slide on these s anks' are. membersl rovidednwith bowl shaped cavtiesl w ose in detail to` the structure illus L siderable angles.V

These rubber balls'are inserted and maintained. under substantial compression and in order to facilitate assembly this formV has been y devised. 0n the end of the square Shanks 14 means is provided such as a screw stud and nut by means of which the members l5 may be adjusted radially and thereby regulate the compression desirable on the balls.

lt is perfectly obvious that the Shanks 14 may be of other cross section than square so long as the members 15 may slide radially without any turning on the Shanks.

Referring in detail to the structure illus- -trated, in Figures 3, 4, and 6 the hub mem- ,bers are so shaped that they project vin under the ball and are provided with oval S0' shaped cavities 21 so that the balls. 17 roll, in cavities 16 and 21.

lVith this improvement as illustrated and described in the two embodiments it is perfectly obvious that this flexible coupling is simple' and convenientin assembly. Vrilhe hub members are secured to the shafts in any suitable manner and the balls slipped vover the Shanks and the nuts are screwed down until the desired compression 'of the 90 balls is had.

lt is perfectly obvious that lthe bowl shaped cavities 'need not be spherical but Y may be of. varying curvature to permit more freedom of movement in one direction than the other and the Aballs may be other than spherical for the same reason.

We wish it .distinctly understood that our improvementin ball joints herein described and illustrated is in the form in which we `desire to construct itand that changes or variations may be made as convenient or desirable without departing from the salient features of our invention and we therefore intend the following claims to cover such modifications as naturally fall We claim:

.1. A flexible shaft coupling comprising two oppositely disposed hub members carrying a plurality of projections, members carried by these rojection's provided with bowl shaped cavities, balls of rubber or similar material disposed inv said cavities vand operating to lexibly connect the two means to vary the space between the cavi-v ties whereby the compression lof the'balls may be varied. 3. A flexible coupling comprising driving and driven members' carrying ,a plurality of projections-members adapted to radial-- ly move on the aforesaid projections carrying bowl like cavities therein, resilient balls intermediate said members, said -balls being seated insaid cavities andY having a' `normal curvature greater than the curvature of said cavities, means to reduce the space between the cavities thereby placing the balls under compression.

4. A iexible shaft coupling comprising two oppositel disposed hub members carrying a plura 'ty of projections, each projection carrying a member provided with bowl shaped cavities, means to regulate the space between the oppositelydisposed 'cavities. 1- 1 5. A iexible shaft' coupling comprising two oppositely disposed hub members carrying a plurality of radial projections, each v l projection carrying a member adapted to move radially thereon, bowl shaped cavities formed in both the hub members land the membersY adapted for` radial -adjustment, resilient balls seated in the cavities and operating to flexibly connect the members, the

normal -curvature of the balls being vgreater than the curvature of the bowl shaped cavities.-

, VIn witness 'whereof we have aiiixed our signatures.- A v j CLAREIYCE WINFRED SPICER.

" GUnDoNpLUcIUs TARBoX. y 

